Through shadows
by Motodachi
Summary: Cipher Nine starts to remember everything she was programmed to forget and decides on a different fate for Hunter.


**Contains spoilers for the imperial agent story in SWTOR and may contain spoilers for the general story as well.**

 **Rated M for suggested abuse**. **If that would bother you stop reading here. No further warning on following chapters.**

[This will get a rework and more chapters I'm just struggling with order and the language.]

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"If it comes to fighting," Cipher grabbed Vectors arm "please don't interfere."

The gentle hive mind frowned. "We will not stand by and watch you die, Agent."

"No one is going to die today." she assured him.

The started to make their way to the heart of the space station. She was not in a hurry. Hunter would be waiting for her. Even if she knew they would not run into anyone she had her blaster rifle ready. Vector walked casually next to her giving her a curious look.

"We sense no one here." Commenting on her drawn weapon.

"I know. It's just habit." It was a lie of course. She needed something to hold on to. So much had led up to this. The final confrontation. She used to be driven by revenge but as the plot unraveled and her whole world was dissolving she was not so sure anymore. She had a plan. She had made several plans. Still not decided on how to end this. It was so much easier before when she was convinced he needed to die. Going through with this new plan of hers relied on a lot of guess work and assumptions. It was not how she usually did things, it was not rational and it put herself a at great risk. In her line of work high risk was normal, but this was her own whim. There was no reason to go through with it other than that she wanted to.

"Agent?"

She didn't realize she had stopped.

"Yeah.." She started moving again.

"We sense you need time to reflect. We feel we might have swayed you with our assessment before."

She shook her head slowly. Vector had expressed his concern about confronting Hunter as he sensed the human had 'very strong feelings for her' he labeled love. Cipher didn't really put much stock into it. Hunter did not know how to love anything. Vectors ability to differentiate human emotions and know the difference between love and obsession was spotty at best. She trusted him and appreciated his input, despite it being difficult to interpret at times, but sometimes she wondered if it was the man or the nest speaking. How much did he really remember of being human?

Under the programming she had a lot of blanks, not all of them were erased by someone deliberately. That was how the brainwashing worked, far from perfect. The removal had caused even more damage an for a while she thought she would have to live with her past being a jumbled glitch. No, it wasn't his assessment that had swayed her. If it wasn't for the memories had started pouring back she would not be standing in this corridor hesitating.

"It's not that.." not sure how much she wanted to share and concerned who else might be listening. They had stopped again.

"Not our place to ask."

"It is. You have the right to know what you are getting yourself into."

"You will not kill him. You want answers. You want to know why your nightmares doesn't include him. If you mean to take him prisoner we will assist."

"How did you..?" Of course he knew. She was used to humans. Humans could never pretend to know what she was feeling. They were easy deceive and seduce. It was one of the reasons for the Empire to recruit chiss agents in the first place. Vector was a completely different creature. And he was not entirely wrong. She needed Hunter alive and meant to take him prisoner. She shook her head and started walking.

The nightmares. She didn't want to be reminded. The images was burnt into her mind. More vivid then they had any right to be. If anything the torture should have haunted her but she had unearthed something much worse. It wasn't Hunters taunting or cold eyes that met her in her dreams. That made her throw up in cold sweat in the middle of the night. Many things had been done to her under the programming. That the worst would be from a seasoned SIS-agent whom she had spared.

The fan. The desk. Her head pushed down. Sweat pooling at her neck. The older mans grunting. Her own strained panting. The humiliation. Invisible gag and shackles restraining her. It felt like it went on forever. Probably would have if he had not been interrupted. Hunter had made her forget. He needed her sharp and level headed and had spared her the image, at least for a little while.

From what she had puzzled together from her scrambled brain Hunter had been watching out for her for some time, in his own way. One second rejecting and cold the next he could show some sort of compassion, even affection. It made more sense as other memories emerged. Most of them was not even restrained by the code word. Her memories were damaged and there were blanks even long after the programming had been removed. One by one they they were pieced together like nerve ends find each other after being severed. Lips, touches, gasps of pleasure. Moments she did not remember sharing with him. She blinked a few time as if it would let her see it more clear. It was all so real.

And here they were. End of the line. He was ready to fight her to the death because in his mind Cipher Nine and code name Hunter could not coexist. One had to go. She knew Hunter was not going give up the Black Codex and she could not leave empty handed. And the longer she stood here hesitating to enter the room the worse it got. She took a deep ragged breath and entered the the inner sanctum.

"No one dies today."


End file.
